How to Play 9-Ball, Basic Rules

Learning how to play 9-ball pool? This is the basics of 9-ball pool. Learn what lag, ball in hand, and how to rack the balls.

Ball in hand is when there was a scratch on the table. When you have ball in hand you can place the ball anywhere you want to. Unlike 8-ball, you do not have to start behind the head string if there was a scratch on the break.

9-ball is played using the 1-ball through the 9-ball and the cue ball. The object of the game is to shot at the lowest number ball on the table. You win the game by making the 9-ball. The balls are racked in a diamond shape. The 1-ball is always placed in the front of the rack and the 9-ball always goes in the middle.

The two players can lag and the winner of the lag decides who goes first. The winner of each game breaks. On the break you must hit the 1-ball first. If you scratch on the break then the other player gets ball in hand and can place the ball anywhere on the table.

Lag means that the player shoots a ball from behind the header towards the footer. The object is to get the ball to hit the rail and stop as close as possible to the rail. The next person does the same thing. The person who is closest to the rail gets to go first.

When it is your turn you are not require to call your shot. You are allowed to make a ball that is not the lowest ball on the table as long as you make contact with the lowest ball first. If you fail to make a shot then it is the other players turn.

After the break the player shoots next can call a "push out" in order to move the cue ball into a better position. The cue ball does not have to may contact with an object ball or touch a rail. You must call a push out before you attempt the shot or it is a normal shot.

If a ball other than the 9-ball is made on a push out it remains pocketed. If there is a scratch on the break than a push out is not allowed.

You win by making the 9-ball. You do not have to make all the balls in order before making the 9-ball. You are allowed to make combination shots. An example is if you are shooting at the 2-ball, make legal contact with the 2-ball, and make the 9-ball on that same shot then you win the game. If you make the 9-ball on the break then you win. However, if you make the 9-ball on the break and scratch then you lose.